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GOP power struggle looms in NYC Council over minority leader post
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Jan 26, 2025
Modified Jan 26, 2025
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Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Jan 26, 2025
Modified Jan 26, 2025
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Republicans in the New York City Council are bracing for a fight to fill the power vacuum left by Minority Leader Joe Borelli’s impending departure, and Councilmembers Joann Ariola of Queens and David Carr of Staten Island are at the center of it.
Borelli said Saturday that he would leave elected office at the end of January, but he planned to step down from his leadership post within the Council sooner so he could have a say in who will succeed him. While he did not name Carr directly, he acknowledged that Staten Islanders stick together.
“That’s what we do. We’re an island people,” Borelli said.
When Borelli was a state assemblymember, Carr was his chief of staff. Carr later held the same post under Steven Matteo, Borelli’s predecessor as the Council's minority leader.
Carr, who called Borelli “my brother in government,” said he wanted to succeed him to continue fighting for New Yorkers’ quality of life.
"There's been so much going on with respect to the migrant crisis, the fight over City of Yes and so much threatens what we hold dear about the place that we've called home for generations,” Carr said.
He said the Republican conference has fought hard on these issues under Borelli's leadership.
“And I believe that I would be the best person to continue with the conference's mission of protecting, preserving and promoting the quality of life of all New Yorkers,” Carr said.
When asked about Borelli’s leadership, Ariola described him as a “smart councilmember” and a “smart minority leader” before adding, “he could have been a bit more present.”
“I understood because he was looking for jobs, but that left an opportunity for me to really step up and really help my colleagues because it’s been no secret that I would like to replace him as the minority leader,” Ariola said.
Ariola said Borelli should not step down as minority leader in order to vote on his successor, even if it were permissible under the Republican caucus’s bylaws.
“If I were in his position, I would abstain and allow those who were left behind as councilmembers get to choose who they want to lead them,” she said.
Staten Islanders have held the minority leader post since 2002, starting with Jimmy Oddo, the current buildings commissioner; Vincent Ignizio, the current deputy executive director of the New York City Board of Elections; Steven Matteo and now Borelli.
“We have two very strong councilmembers in Queens and I believe [the minority leader post] should come to Queens,” Ariola said, referring to herself and fellow Republican Councilmember Vickie Paladino. “Staten Island has had it long enough.”
Ariola said two of the Republican caucus's six members are with her. If Borelli were to take part in the leadership vote and there was a tie, Carr would win by default because he has seniority.
Both councilmembers were elected in 2021, but Carr was filling a vacancy and was sworn in in November. Ariola was sworn in with the rest of the new councilmembers in January 2022.
Councilmember Inna Vernikov of Brooklyn, the Council’s minority whip and second-highest-ranked member of the Republican caucus, has long been in talks with Carr about this move.
She said it was not easy choosing whom to support, but praised Ariola as an “avid fighter” and a “great partner and colleague at City Hall.”
“Personally, I am supporting Councilmember David Carr as our next minority leader because his qualifications, experience, compassion and know-how are exactly what we need to help grow the delegation beyond its current numbers and lead us in the fight for conservative values,” Vernikov wrote in a text message.
The struggle for leadership is likely to play out this week since Borelli is leaving office on Friday.
Tagged
new york city
Politics
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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